Chiasmocleis parkeri Almendáriz C., Brito-M., Batallas-R., Vaca-Guerrero & Ron, 2017
Parker’s Litter Frog, Parker’s Humming Frog | family: Microhylidae subfamily: Gastrophryninae genus: Chiasmocleis |
Species Description: Almendariz C A, Brito M J, Battalas D, Vaca-Guerrero J, Ron SR. 2017 Una especies nueva de rana del genero Chiasmocleis (Microhylidae: Gastrophryninae) de la Cordillera del Condor, Ecuador. Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Pauo 57: 119- 136. |
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Description DIAGNOSIS: Chiasmocleis parkeri has subarticular and palmar tubercles, but the other species in the genus have smooth palms. Furthermore, C. parkeri have three obvious fingers and four pedals that differentiate them from C. tridactyla. Chiasmocleis parkeri also has tiny, cream colored dots all over and a brick-brown color on its dorsum with a lighter grayish belly while other species have more bluish spots on their belly and bright white spots everywhere else on their dark brown body. Chiasmocleis parkeri are bigger than the C. carvalhoi. Their straight and sub-elliptic snout is also a distinguishing characteristic that separates them from the C. hudsoni. Lastly, their advertisement call distinguishes them in that it lacks pulses contrary to the rest of the genus. Their average note emission rate per second is lower than the C. bassleri, and C. parkeri’s average dominant frequency is twice that of C. bassleri (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). COLORATION: In life, the dorsum ranges from brick-red to maroon and is covered with tiny whitish-yellow dots. There is light brown on the belly, throat, inner surface of the limbs, and hands and feet. The color gets lighter towards the extremities of the digits. The eye is golden yellow in color with a black pupil (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). In preservative, individuals have sepia colored backs with no spots. An orange-brown color is observed towards extremities with small dots, along with an amber-colored belly, a darker throat, spots throughout the underside, and beige/white-colored soles of feet (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). VARIATION: There is not enough statistical evidence to prove that they exhibit sexual dimorphism, but there are some small differences that can be identified. The males are smaller, have a darker throat, and are not as uniform in color as the females (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). Distribution and Habitat Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Ecuador
Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors Bicolored eggs were found within a female specimen (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). Males had cream-colored, ovoid testicles (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). Males do not congregate when engaging in mating behaviors, rather they sing alone, randomly throughout both day and night. Their calls range from 3.96 - 4.09 kHz and sound like a metallic knock; the song is frequency modulated and has 72 notes without pulses. Chiasmocleis parkeri has a unique song among its genus due to its pulseless vocals. This could possibly be caused by a lack of vocal openings and sacs in the species (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). They eat a specialized diet of ants including Labidus spininodis, species of the genus Neoponera, and species of the genus Pleidole (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). Trends and Threats Possible reasons for amphibian decline General habitat alteration and loss Comments PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS: Maximum Likelihood analyses of COI, 12S, and 16S mtDNA along with CMYC, BDNF, SIA1, and Tyrosinase nDNA sequences confirmed that Chiasmocleis parkeri is part of the Chiasmocleis genus and a member of the C. hudsoni species complex, which includes C. antenori, C. carvalhoi, C. magnova and C. tridactyla. Chiasmocleis parkeri is most closely related to C. antenori, however, C. antenori was rendered paraphyletic in the analyses (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017). ETYMOLOGY: The species epithet, “parkeri”, is in honor of Ted Parker III, an ornithologist who led the expedition to Cordillera del Condor in 1991. It was his last field work trip funded and organized by the Conservation International and national institutions before his death in 1993 (Almendariz Cabezas et al. 2017).
References
Almendáriz Cabezas, A. de L., Brito M., J., Batallas Revelo, D. A., Vaca-Guerrero, J., Ron, S. R. (2017). "Una especie nueva de rana del género Chiasmocleis (Microhylidae: Gastrophryninae) de la Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador." Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. São Paulo 57(10), 119–136. [link] Ortega-Andrade, H.M., Rodes Blanco, M., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Guerra Arévalo, N., López de Vargas-Machuca, K.G., Sánchez-Nivicela, J.C., Armijos-Ojeda, D., Andrade, J.F.C., Reyes-Puig, C., Riera, A.B.Q., Székely, P., Soto, O.R.R., Székely, D., Guayasamin, J.M., Pesántez, F.R.S., Amador, L., Betancourt, R., Ramírez-Jaramillo, S.M., Timbe-Borja, B., Laporta, M.G., Bernal, J.F.W., Cachimuel, L.A.O., Jácome, D.C., Posse, V., Valle-Piñuela, C., Jiménez, D.P., Reyes-Puig, J.P., Terán-Valdez, A., Coloma, L.A., Lara, M.B.P., Carvajal-Endara, S., Urgilés, M., Muñoz, M.H.Y. (2021) "Red List assessment of amphibian species of Ecuador: A multidimensional approach for their conservation." PLOS ONE 16(5), e0251027. [link] Originally submitted by: Alyssa Arino, Hope Forsberg, Sarah Harry (2022-08-10) Description by: Alyssa Arino, Hope Forsberg, Sarah Harry (updated 2022-08-10)
Distribution by: Alyssa Arino, Hope Forsberg, Sarah Harry (updated 2022-08-10)
Life history by: Alyssa Arino, Hope Forsberg, Sarah Harry (updated 2022-08-10)
Trends and threats by: Alyssa Arino, Hope Forsberg, Sarah Harry (updated 2022-08-10)
Comments by: Alyssa Arino, Hope Forsberg, Sarah Harry (updated 2022-08-10)
Edited by: Ann T. Chang (2022-08-10) Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2022 Chiasmocleis parkeri: Parker’s Litter Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/8813> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 2, 2023.
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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2023. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 2 Dec 2023. AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use. |